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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Mom-Me Celebration - Day 16: Go Buy Yourself Something Pretty

I'm out today enjoying my sorority chapter's fashion show. It's a big to-do. As well as it being our scholarship fundraiser, it's a fun day to get dressed up and hang out with girlfriends and ooh and aah over pretty dresses that you can't imagine where you will wear them to in your current lifestyle of chaperoning field trips and hanging out at sports games. But it definitely gets you in the mood for today's challenge - go buy yourself something pretty.

Don't you deserve something pretty?

You may have noticed that several of my challenges thus far (and coming up) are to go out and buy something for yourself - lipstick, nail polish, a new bra - and now "something pretty". Why? When was the last time you bought yourself a pair of shoes? Or a new dress? Or whatever it is that makes you feel special or ladylike or attractive or whatever positive way you want to feel about yourself? I recently saw an online survey (not very scientific, I don't guess) asking moms how long ago it was that they did buy something for themselves and if a long time, why? You can imagine, or maybe you are one of the moms who could answer "I haven't bought anything in 6 months because the kids needed XYZ." It points to the sacrifice that moms make for their kids. How often have you thought, "oh, I'd like a new dress, but Johhnie needs new cleats." "I'd love to have those new shoes, but Suzy needs a new tutu." Or maybe it's not even financial; perhaps by the time you get off of work, run the kids all over town, throw together dinner, and get the little folks in p.j.s, the mall is closed and you're too tired to even point & click to a new pair of shoes. Moms - you give up a lot for your kids. Take a moment, a few dollars, for yourself.

Now, I realize that there are families in financial hardship and I'm not suggesting that you put your family's shelter and food in jeopardy for your own frivolous spending. You'll notice that there's no dollar value attached to "go buy..." I bought a flower hairclip at H&M for about $2 the other day; maybe that'll be enough for you, too. Or maybe, a new $500 pair of shoes fits into your budget, I don't know. But the point is - be selfish for just long enough to make yourself feel good.